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Dear Parents,
We’ve hit the home stretch for our school year! It’s going to be a fun, busy last month of school in our class, so be sure to read this newsletter thoroughly so you don’t miss anything!
Just a reminder that May 21st will be our “Summer Birthday Party.” If your child has a birthday over the summer, he/she is welcome to bring in a special birthday snack on that day!
Miss Beth and Miss Denise
We will be finishing our school year with some VERY fun themes! May is all about animals in our class, so we’ll be learning about different kinds and eventually sorting them into categories: insects, pets, and zoo animals. Next week, we will learn all about insects and spiders, focusing on the life cycles of different insects and what is and is not an insect. (Did you know that an insect has 6 legs, so a spider is NOT an insect?) The second week in May will be Pet Week, where we will discuss what animals do and DO NOT make good pets.
Thursday, May 9th will be our annual “Pet Day.” The kids will have the opportunity to bring in a pet (real or stuffed) to share with the class. Each child should be able to share with us about his/her pet (name, type of pet, what the pet likes/doesn’t like). The “Pet Day” portion of our day will begin at 11:15 for the morning class and 2:45 for the afternoon class. Parents are invited regardless of the pet that the child brings, but ALL LIVE PETS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT! While it may be inconvenient for you to drag your family pet to school, keep in mind what a great time your child will have and how excited he’ll be to share his pet with the class! There will be a sign-up sheet outside the classroom for you to tell us what pet your child will be bringing. We will plan for pet day to take place rain or shine, but if we have an overload of very LARGE pets, we might need to reschedule rather than move it indoors.
The third week in May, our theme will be “zoo animals” to supplement our trip to Lake Tobias on Thursday, May 16th. The last two weeks of school (May 21-23 and 28-29) will be fun weeks of finishing end-of-the-year evaluations and saying good-bye to our friends.
Our preschool graduation will be on Thursday night, May 23rd at 6:30 pm. We will also be having an art show to display the artwork that the kids worked so hard on this year. Have your child pick out his two favorite pieces of artwork from pre-k and send them to school by May 9th.
That evening, we will start with a brief presentation by the kids and handing out awards, and then we will head into the banquet area for fun and food. Please feel free to invite friends and relatives to this exciting night for your child! Don’t forget--we will need a baby picture of your child. Please find a baby picture that best displays the cuteness of your kiddo and send it to school or email it to GBPrek@hotmail.com by May 9th. Also, for our graduation, we ask that each family bring a snack or drink for refreshment time. There will be a sign-up sheet for snacks closer to the time of graduation.
Throughout the month of May, we will conduct evaluations with each child similar to those done in January. We will evaluate math skills, literacy skills, social and emotional skills, and fine motor skills. You will receive an evaluation at the end of school that will show you where your child stands in each area and the progress that he/she has made. If you have any questions or concerns prior to or after you receive the evaluation, feel free to talk to us!
With the end of school so early this year, we will not be sending home May book orders. If you would like to order an end-of-the-year or graduation book for your child (or any other book, for that matter), you can still place your order online using our class code, GL9CJ.
Our field trip to Lake Tobias Animal Farm is quickly approaching! Make sure you return your signed permission slip and money ($10.00 per person) NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, MAY 7th. Again, your child (and you, if you are going along) will need a packed lunch for the trip. Younger siblings and other family members are welcome to join us, but please write on your permission slip who will be joining you and if you will be driving separately. There is no need to pay for children under 3. We will take a cooler for foods that need to stay cold. We will leave the school promptly at 9:00, so please have your child here between 8:45 and 8:50. We plan to return to school around 3:30.
In math, we have just finished our unit on telling time to the hour, and the kids did GREAT with it! We learned that a clock has a face and two hands just like we do and that the long hand must be at the 12 to show an “o’clock” and the little hand shows us the hour. We encourage you to continue to work with your child on this at home as we send the kids’ individual clocks home. This month, we will we doing a basic introduction to money, learning the following coins: penny, nickel, dime, and quarter.
We are currently working on some two-letter sounds (ch, sh, and th) in the area of literacy. Ask your child to sing the songs that we learned for each one. To help us remember the sounds, we touch our chin for /ch/, make a quiet sound for /sh/, and stick up our thumbs for /th/. For the rest of May, we will begin to work on reading and spelling more sight words and adding to our “sight word caterpillar,” a caterpillar with a word on each circle that we are working hard to make longer and longer as we learn more and more sight words! A great way to make your child feel super-smart is to stop while reading to him and have him sound out simple two or three-letter words. Once he figures it out on his own, make a big deal about praising him. It is a big deal! He is READING!
Our nursery rhyme for the month of May is “There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.” This is the version that we will learn:
There was an old woman
Who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children
She didn’t know what to do!
She gave them some broth,
She gave them some bread
Then kissed them all soundly
And sent them to bed.
Our last day of school (May 28 or 29) is going to be an all-day (well, all-morning or all-afternoon) fun day! Weather permitting, we will spend a lot of time outside playing fun games at different stations. PLEASE PUT SUNSCREEN ON YOUR CHILD BEFORE SCHOOL THAT DAY! Also, We are looking for a parent volunteer to help out from each class. You will need to stay at a station and work with a small group of kids. Let us know if you are able to help make this a fun last day of school!
Tuesday, May 7th—Lake Tobias permission slips
and money due
Thursday, May 9th—PET DAY 11:15 & 2:45
—artwork and baby picture due
Thursday, May 16th—Lake Tobias field trip
Tuesday, May 21st—Summer Birthday Party
Thursday, May 23rd —Graduation, 6:30pm
Tuesday, May 28/Wednesday, May 29
—Last Day of School Fun Day! Wear sunscreen!
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